Status of the Booster Injector for the Duke FEL Storage Ring

This paper presents the current status of the booster synchrotron for the Duke Free Electron Laser Laboratory (DFELL) storage ring. The booster will provide full energy injection into the storage ring in a wide energy range from 0.27 to 1.2 GeV. When operating the DFELL storage ring as the High Intensity Gamma Source (HIGS) to produce gamma photons above 20 MeV with Compton scattering, continuous electron loss occurs. The top-off mode operation of the booster injector will enable the continuous operation of the HIGS facility by replenishing the lost electrons. The design requirement for a compact booster with the single bunch extraction capability remains a challenge for the machine development. Presently, the booster project is in the installation phase. The magnetic elements, vacuum chambers, injection and extraction kickers have been developed in collaboration with and fabricated at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (BINP), Russia. The diagnostic and control system is being developed at DFELL. The commissioning of the booster synchrotron will start at the end of 2005.